Rarities Unlimited 04 - The Color of Death

the morning for several hours of surfing before work was a ritual from his teenage years. The four decades of sun and salt water since then had turned his thinning, light brown hair almost white and given his face a weathered, ruddy appearance. His eyes were surrounded by pale wrinkles, a legacy of squinting into the sun while waiting for the perfect wave.
    Right now, those serious brown eyes settled on Tessa’s upturned face.
    She stilled when she picked up on his tension. “Do you have something on Kelly’s case? Were you able to talk to Sledge Aiken?”
    “You’d better sit down for this one, Tessie,” Ed said, taking a seat himself and pulling her half-empty plate to his side of the table.
    “What’s wrong?”
    “I spent the better part of yesterday on the phone with the CBI. That’s the Colorado Bureau of Investigation. They’re in charge of processing civil and criminal identification files and records, among other things,” Ed began.
    “And?” Ronnie and Tessa asked together.
    “And they have no record of young Kelly Martin existing in the state of Colorado. No birth certificate for a Kelly Martin that matches the date of birth you supplied, no driver’s license that matches the Polaroid photo of her you gave me.”
    “What does that mean? Is it some bureaucratic mix-up?” Tessa asked.
    “What it means is that there is no Kelly Martin, date of birth 12 January, blond hair, blue eyes, five-foot-two and 105 pounds,” Ed read the information off a notepad he’d pulled out. “Said Kelly Martin does not exist, according to the state of Colorado.”
    “How can that be?” Tessa asked.
    “It can’t—unless your victim isn’t telling the truth about something.”
    “Wait. At the hospital she didn’t have any ID. She said her wallet had been stolen shortly after she arrived in LA,” Tessa said. “Maybe there’s some kind of identity theft thing going on—you know, someone creating a whole new identity using Kelly’s name and social security number?”
    Ed shook his head. “Could be, but there are hundreds of Kelly Martins registered with social security. It’s a common name. Maybe too common.”
    Tessa sat back as she tried to take in the information. If it had come from anyone but Ed, she would argue that there was a mistake. But Ed was a thirty-year veteran of the force, and he simply didn’t make this kind of error.
    “What about the credit card data I gave you? Did anything pop with it?” she asked.
    “The cardholders all have accounts in good standing. The cards weren’t reported stolen,” Ed replied.
    “Thank God for that,” Tessa said. “So maybe Kelly really was giving them to her cousin so they could be returned to their owners.”
    “Don’t be too relieved. The owners may simply not be aware that theircards are missing yet.”
    Tessa bit her lip. “I’ll have to contact the issuers and see if there’s any recent activity on those cards.”
    “Good. I’d be especially interested in any activity since Kelly left the hospital. Looking to see if she’s charged a bunch of high-ticket items since then would be a good start.”
    “Once you meet her, you’ll see that she’s not like that.”
    Ed hesitated, then spoke. “Tessie, there are several very strange aspects to Kelly’s story. We need to talk to her about them. Where is she right now?” Ed asked.
    “She’s staying with her cousin. I don’t know where—she wouldn’t let me drive her home, wouldn’t even tell me his name. She said she didn’t want to make waves, you know, because her cousin is letting her stay in his house as long as she wants for free.”
    “How are you supposed to get in touch with her?” Ronnie asked.
    “Kelly gave me a pager number where I can reach her. I’m going to leave a message for her right now.” Tessa got her cell phone out and left the patio so she wouldn’t disturb the other diners.
    “You really think there’s something screwy with Kelly Martin and her story?” Ronnie asked Ed.
    “Yeah. She’s not telling the truth—or at least not all of it. The credit card issue is a red flag for me, even though Tessie is trying to explain it away. I hope she doesn’t get her teeth kicked in on this one. The case is too big and the suspect too rich for her to take him on with what she’s got now.”
    “She can handle it. You’ve seen to that yourself by teaching her the ropes.”
    “I know. But something is going on beneath the surface here. Otherwise, Kelly’s